Wheels of Judgement
by Luna Quiche
Summary: Beywheelz FF. Odin gets invited to DREAM Academy, a mysterious school about which no information exists. There, the student council makes him join the ominous 'Judgement Club' by promising him to make his deepest wish come true. From now on Odin and his new team have to fight in various battles to prove their worth. Is 'for myself' truly enough reason to change fate? (Mecha AU)
1. Prologue: Land Of Hope

**A/N: This is gonna be one giant Beywheelz AU. I'm not sure how many people are actually interested in Beywheelz at all, but well… This is just what I want to write, so I'll do just that. Because to me Beywheelz is one of the best things in the world.  
Wheels of Judgement will be a Dominator-centric piece of work, but all characters from the series have their own part in the plot. **

**Enjoy! And please leave me a review, okay? Critic is always appreciated, too!**

**Intro - Land Of Hope**

You don't have anything left anymore, you say?

_(Pride)_

You gave up on all but one thing, you say?

_(Strength)_

What a poor, lonesome child.

_(Self)_

All on your own.

_(Bonds)_

Trapped in the dark world.

_(Feeling)_

It must be sad.

_(Fake)_

It must be painful.

_(Fear)_

But don't be afraid.

For even if it's all said and done, there is still one more chance.

Even if you're weak.

Even if you're broken.

Even if you can't move.

You can still become a wheeler and turn the wheels of fate around.

There is another world, somewhere else.

It didn't look like anything extraordinary and maybe it was that fact in itself, which made the school so worrisome to Odin. But even so, there was no Plan B. The boy stood in front of the entrance for two more minutes, before stepping through the gate. Nobody paid any attention to him, despite the fact that he hadn't been handed a uniform yet. So this was it. DREAM Academy. It met none of his expectations. The walls were painted in a dirty reddish-brown and the atmosphere they radiated was one of dull boredom. For a private school, it looked rather plain.

DREAM Academy. There wasn't much information on this place. Everybody in the outside town knew it existed, but that was about it. It wasn't a school you could just get into on your own accord. In fact, there were no student applications. DREAM Academy's leaders chose their students by themselves. Nobody knew how they could possible be aware of so many children all over the country, but they were. They found the time to look them all over and those who received a letter of invitation never knew whether to be honoured or scared.

Odin had felt neither of those emotions upon receiving note of his 'approval as a student'. There had been mild surprise –after all he didn't have a mailbox in first place, so the letter reached him on rather unconventional ways- but nothing further than that.

It was beyond him why they would chose him. He didn't give off the impression of a textbook student for sure. In this town, as well as in any town before, Odin was the strongest. It was his one and only qualification. There was no match for him, wherever he would go. Fighting was what he fed off, but no matter how many battles he left as the victor, he was always hungry for more. It was like an emptiness, a black hole that could not be filled.

Odin wasn't suited for a school. And maybe that was exactly why he was here today. He'd tried everything, but there wasn't any place for him to go. So if this school wanted him here, what else could he do? Continuing his life just like before was an option, but Odin was sick and tired of it. All he wanted was a change.

The students were a mixture of different personality types, only connected by the school uniform, but for the most part Odin didn't get a feeling that any of them were special enough to be on a school as specific as this. Soon he got to a quieter part of the halls, where supposedly the secretary's office was located. Odin brushed a strand of his blonde hair out of his face and stepped into the room. A boring-looking lady greeted him.

"Name?", she asked in an unpleasant flat voice. Behind her there was a girl with a thin frame and long pink hair, sorting out papers. She took no notice of Odin's appearance, it wasn't even worth looking up for her.

Odin paid her no mind as well and instead replied to the secretary.

"Odin."

No need for more words than somehow necessary. A part of him wanted to turn around and just walk out again, but that would have been cowardice. Regardless, Odin began to feel like coming here had been pointless in first place.

The secretary looked him over again, then back down to her papers and for some time said nothing anymore. Had Odin had a table to tap his hands on, then he would have done so now. Finally the woman looked up again and nodded.

"I see. Room 23 would be yours then. It's a double-room, like every room here, but you don't have a roommate yet. Consider yourself lucky then."

And Odin indeed did. For a loner like him to suddenly live with someone else… It would have been unthinkable for certain. The one even more lucky than Odin was surely the potential roommate though, that much was pretty much granted.

"Lucy", the secretary then said and the girl in the back finally looked up in response, "See to it that this young man gets to his room and receives his uniform and time-table, will you?"

The pink-haired girl, now revealed to be Lucy, nodded. She pushed up her glasses and turned to Odin. The smile she offered him was vague and distanced.

"My name's Lucy, I'm a member of the student council of DREAM Academy. I'll guide you to your room now, if you have any questions then don't hesitate to ask."

Odin didn't bother with a reply as he followed her out of the office and into the area where the student rooms were located. It was at least one good thing about this strange place, having a roof over his head. It wasn't a comfort Odin found every night, being always on the search for the one thing he was missing.

There were not many further words exchanged. As they walked, Lucy explained bits and pieces of the school, but her voice was so detached that Odin got the feeling she couldn't care less if he was listening or even there since she was merely doing her job. It didn't bother him. Avoiding excessive attention on his first day, meant having a tiny bit of calm for once. There was another thing that _did_ bother him about her though. It was only when they were almost at his dorm that he could finally figure out what it was. Before, he'd assumed it was merely a reflection on her glasses, but that wasn't it. Despite the distanced attitude, she was watching him carefully. No, she was observing his every reaction and she was good enough at it that Odin would almost not have noticed.

"…and your uniform should be placed inside your room already. As for the timetables, those are not yet printed, someone will hand you it later today. Please settle in", she finally finished and her voice didn't change one bit as she turned to leave.

The desire to call her back and confront her with her creepy staring was rising inside Odin, but it was too early for any such a move. If he wanted to see what was up with this school and test out if maybe, just maybe it could positively affect his state of mind then he couldn't afford offending a student council member on first occasion coming up, no matter how creepy she might have been.

As she was around the corner, Lucy found herself faced with a blonde boy about her age, who gave her a questioning head-tilt. In response, she only nodded. There were no words, because there was nothing Odin or anybody else needed to hear or be aware of. They exchanged another look.

"Let's not keep him waiting, Matthew."

As soon as Lucy said it, they both turned towards the stairway; their steps in perfectly synchronism.

The door opened without a sound and revealed a neat little student dorm room. It was nothing like any place Odin had lived at ever before. Two perfectly kept beds, two desks that were just screaming to be used for homework, a big closet, a bathroom door… All surrounded by walls that were painted in friendly pastel orange. With big steps Odin went straight to the window. He could stare down at the campus from up here.

Only few students were gathered and this time some caught his attention. Within the groups of normal teenagers, there was one that looked particularly strangely combined. A cheerful boy with red hair kept talking and laughing and a boy, who for some reason seemed to think suspenders were recent fashion, smirked along. Odin could see how he made a few comments and even without being able to hear his voice, he could feel the almost inappropriate self-confidence in them. Standing close to the boy was another, one who seemed calm and only smiled mildly at the enthusiastic duo.

Odin let his gaze wander further. There was a siver-haired one in a corner, a tall boy sitting next to a smaller and more grumpy one, both eating sandwiches and then more generic students. Nothing captured Odin's mind for long, so he moved back into the room, directing his eyes on the school uniform placed on one of the beds. A blazer, a dress-shirt, a tie. With a huff, Odin threw it all off to the side and lay down on the bed, staring at the ceiling, deeply lost in thought.

Odin had almost fallen asleep when there was a knock on the door. He opened his eyes. It knocked again and the sound rhythmically kicked him out of his relaxed and numb state. Begrudgingly he moved to the entrance.

A punk-ish boy leaned against the wall next to the room, grinning broadly. His hair was multicoloured, dominated by pink with strands of blue and yellow. Odin immediately noticed how it covered one of the stranger's eyes completely.

"You're Odin, right? They sent me to give you your time-table, so there."

The boy waved a piece of paper through the air like he was a cheerleader for a baseball team and the paper mysteriously his pompom. Upon further inspection Odin found his eyes drawn to the other's hips, as he had tied the dress-shirt into that kind of knot girls commonly used to change too big clothes into midriff shirts. On a guy it seemed plain weird, but at least he had the figure for it.

"First day, hmh? Sucks to be you."

The weird person laughed and Odin just wordlessly pulled the paper from his hands, nodded and then closed the door in his face. Outside there was an annoyed whine.

"Bad style! That's not how you treat the great Jake, tch… See you around, rude Odin."

"I didn't ask for your name…", Odin sighed, more to himself than anything, after he heard the steps move away. For the fiftieth time today he wondered why he even came here.

As he stood in front of the tiny bathroom mirror the next morning, Odin found himself not really looking like, well, himself. The uniform looked and felt out of place. With a grimace he turned away and left the dorm. Holding his head high he walked to the classroom. Odin, the strongest. Odin, the feared one. Odin, who nobody could defeat.

Odin, the emptyhearted.

He sat down on a chair by the window. Cold air from outside brushed through his hair as he yawned again. The dorm bed had been way too comfortable. Idly, his mind wandered back to the timetable. It had been just like he imagined a school schedule to look, except for one thing.

He didn't remember signing up for any extracurricular activities, but yet there it was written.

'_Judgement Club – Joining Interview. 15.45pm'_

Odin couldn't even begin to imagine what a Judgement Club was supposed to be.


	2. Scent Of Desire

**A/N: Explaining the Judgement System is going to take a bit more space than thought, but I'm giving it my best to not let the introductory phase get too boring. Plot will happen soon after! Until then enjoy Odin's mopeyness. Seriously, Odin, why won't you cheer up already? (Also Jake. Jake is fun to write, for sure.)**

**01 – Scent Of Desire**

_(The wheels started spinning.)_

During class, Odin almost completely blocked out the thought of the mysterious 'Judgement Club' on his schedule - as well as everything else. His presence during in the lessons should be enough for those teachers. It was the most he could bring himself to do. The minimum requirement. Academics were not Odin's kind of thing. Actually if there was one thing he was sure off that it would never fill what was missing in his life, then it was school. This theory seemed proven right during the first 30 minutes even, so Odin spent the rest of the day dozing off and staring out of the window. Nobody bothered him. Nobody even seemed really interested in his presence at all. This was DREAM Academy and not some countryside school, therefore transfer students were the norm and not anything extraordinary.

Lunch break came around in what may have felt like years or the blink of an eye. In the trance-like state of unawareness Odin often spent his days in, it made no difference. He was used to it. The emptiness would accompany him wherever he would go and often it was louder than everything else.  
What was he even doing at this place? He didn't know. His tie fluttered in the wind as he entered the campus and looked around, not directing his gaze at anything in particular. The group of boys that he'd spotted from his window yesterday was together again and the redhead gave him a glance. Before Odin could walk away the mere look turned into a wave and the boy moved toward him with a cheerful expression.

"Hey, you're new here, right?"

The beaming smile he was sending did not have the intended welcoming effect on Odin. He huffed shortly and then nodded.

"I'm Sho Tenma! I think we have some classes together. By the way, what's your name?"

There was no end to the amount of radiance and friendliness this boy seemed to practically emit. "Odin," said Odin and raised his eyebrows slightly. The pool of naivety that this person seemed to be was almost unbearable. Right on time as if to save Odin from more pointless pleasantries and bonding attempts, a calm-seeming dark-haired boy with a facial tattoo stepped next to them.  
"Sho, don't rush him so much. It takes time to get used to a new place, you know that."

As Odin displayed no reaction at all, Sho took it on himself to introduce them to each other. Apparently it was a necessity to him that he could not do without.

"And that's Jin Ryu, my friend. Jin, this is Odin. So…" he turned back to Odin again "If you ever need any help or someone to show you around, hit us up for it, okay? I mean, the council members also do the newbie tours, but they're pretty strict on everything, you know?"

That much, Odin had noticed. He recalled the strange look on that Lucy-girl's face and once again he felt unsettled by it. Before he could even contemplate asking about her though, another guy yelled from the back, apparently directed at Jin and Sho, who smiled apologetically.

"That's Leon, we're supposed to go get lunch with him now. Anyway, contact us anytime, 'kay?"

Before Odin could reply they were off.

The printer made a quiet but constant buzzing sound as paper after paper went through it. The student council always had a lot of paperwork that needed to be done. A lot of it could have been avoided by less strict rules on documenting every action, but that did not suit the council member's style. Lucy's hands moved steadily as she refreshed the paper stock of the printer, but her mind was elsewhere. It was like this every time her superior made a new decision. She trusted him with his judgement, but it was worrisome either way. New facts and personalities needed to be evaluated and Lucy knew very well that the major part of that work would be for her and Mathew to do. And whenever the council president's almost playful nature got the better of him it would be up to them to bring him back to his senses without letting him notice. Lucy traced over the edge of the finished paper pile with her index finger and sighed inaudibly. They were walking on a fine line and she knew it too well.

"Are you finished or should I help you out?" Mathew had appeared at the door without even a sound, but it did not startle Lucy in the slightest. She gave the hint of a smile. "I'm done. Club starts now, so we should get going." He nodded. "That's what I was getting at."

They didn't walk towards the classrooms, but instead directed their steps at a rarely used part of the school building.

The DREAM Academy one again proved to be more alike to a labyrinth than a school building, but with a bit of effort and luck Odin managed to be at room 616A right on time. The clock down the hallway at least said it was 15:43pm as he caught sight of the door at least. Hesitantly Odin looked at the name plate next to it. _'Judgement Club Assembly Room'_. The letters were written in a different font than the other name plates around the building. It was a little slimmer and a little more elegant, which did nothing to ease his suspicions about this appointment. But the possibly worst part about all this uncertainty was that it didn't matter. It wasn't like Odin had anything to lose. Even if there was danger and downsides to all of this, it hardly made a difference at this point. Angrily, Odin shook the thought off and reached for the doorknob. He didn't waste any time on knocking. If they, whoever 'they' were, had invited him here then they should be prepared for his appearance at least.

He wasn't sure what he had expected, but it was surely far from the truth. The inside of the club room was not exceptionally shocking, but it also seemed to defy the term 'ordinary' completely. The best description Odin was able to come up with was 'out of place' and it applied in various ways. While the furniture in itself was very basic and simple, even clinically clean, there was a lot of accessories placed all over it that didn't seem to make the slightest bit of sense in relation to the rest of the room or the other items. There was a table in the middle of the room, covered with schoolbooks that were stacked in an unorganized mess as well as magazines and different bags of candy and the chaos did not even stop there. On the other end of the room there was a couch on which various indefinable things were placed, among them an inexplicably present hairbrush. Behind the couch were two dressers that were over and over loaded with different things, the most memorable of these things being rather spooky stuffed animals. Spooky in the 'either fully a skeleton or missing at the very least an eye-ball in an unappealing way' sense. And in between that mess there were somehow things that looked like very serious documents, various parts of technology that weren't currently connected to any real machine and a lamp that was way too symmetric and simplistic to match with the mess around it.  
Left behind in a corner there was a single, lonely chair. A sort of cloth, maybe a uniform, was carelessly draped over it.

Odin barely could register all these confusing and completely tasteless details at once, so he focused on the people in the room. On the couch, right next to the hairbrush was a dark-haired boy who he maybe had seen around before. He had a slim figure and a completely deadpan expression, that was supported by the fact that he barely even looked up as Odin entered the room. A step aside from him stood a boy you really wouldn't want to have as your enemy, at least judging by the size of his muscles. He regarded Odin with mild confusion. And then there was the one person who Odin would have really wished to not be present to this meeting or whatever it was supposed to be. Jake had been sitting on the ground in front of the table, lazily flipping through magazines while licking a lollipop, but as soon as he heard the door open he scrambled to his feet, grinning.

"Hey there, rude…. uh, what was your name again?" He chuckled. It was pretty obvious he had actually memorized his name very well, so Odin refrained from repeating it. Jake would've paid no attention anyway. "So, what are you here for? Don't tell me they invited you to join the party…"

"Don't be silly, Jake, what else would he be here for. People don't exactly pay us visits everyday." That was coming from the person on the couch, who finally seemed to pay some attention to what was happening.  
Only upon hearing this comment Odin finally realized what had been truly bothering him about the room. There were no windows at all; all illumination came from the striplights in the ceiling. There wasn't much to make this scene any more surreal.

"Who is 'they'?" It bothered Odin having to direct any question at this obscene Jake person, but he needed information more than anything. At the very least he wanted to know what he'd gotten himself into, because as it was there was nothing but question marks in his mind. He didn't get a reply to his question however, but only because the door opened a second time, so Odin spun around. He found himself faced with Lucy and a blonde boy who had had not seen before. He and Lucy wore similar glasses though and seemed almost eerily in sync. Behind them there seemed to be someone else, someone smaller, but they blocked the view for the most part.

"Question answered?" Jake chuckled from the sidelines.

Odin narrowed his eyes and stared at the two. "What's the meaning of all of this? Who are you and what kind of meeting is this?"

"Oh, I do believe you already know this. Lucy and Matthew are just members of the student council and this is an extracurricular activity club like it's common for schools." The person behind them had stepped forward. He was small, terribly small, but he didn't seem too young. His hair was blue and middle-length, but his most dominant feature were his multi-coloured eyes. While one iris was a full but very ordinary green, the other gleamed in a dark shade of red. He smiled. "As for me, my name is Ryan Gladstone and I am the president of the student council. Welcome to our little school, Odin."

Odin raised an eyebrow. "For an ordinary club there is an awful lot of secret business around here."

"You were extended an official invitation with the club room number clearly visible though."

The smile Ryan offered was bright and cheerful and it didn't seem in the slightest bit dishonest. But even though it merely spoke of real delight, Odin felt like something was being deliberately hidden from him. It was as if this school was slowly making him paranoid and it was even only his first day, too.

"Whatever", he growled and rolled his eyes, "I just want to know what you called me here for. If it's just some sort of twisted tea party then I'll be leaving right now."

Somehow he hadn't expected Ryan to break out in chuckles in reaction to his words, but that was exactly what was happening. "Oh, trust me, it's not."

"But you might need a tea to calm down after getting to know about everything", Jake commented from the back row and nobody paid any attention to him.

"Actually, it's simple", Ryan continued as he has calmed down from his fit of seemingly random amusement, "You yearn for nothing more than the emptiness in your heart to be filled, isn't that right? I can grant you that wish."

Everything just seemed to stop for Odin at this moment and he didn't properly know how to react. That emptiness… It wasn't something he just told people about. That wasn't because it was a secret in any way, but because he never had people to talk to about it. And now this person just stood right in front of him, announcing his deepest issue as well as stating to actually have a solution for it. Everything that had happened since coming to this school suddenly appeared way too much like a dream and Odin seriously pondered just trying to wake up. Which didn't work at all, so he settled on replying in a hoarse voice.

"What would you be able to do?" It wasn't like this was a problem easily fixed, Odin knew better than anybody. He'd been trying all over the last years, no, possibly all his life, just to find that one thing that could fulfil his wish.

There was silence in the room, even Jake seemed to have gotten the memo that shutting up was completely in order. Ryan tilted his head to the side and smiled.

"Haven't you cursed your fate for never allowing you to find the one thing you long for? I offer you the option of changing your destiny altogether. There is another world than the one you suffer in. You can go there. All you have to do is become a Wheeler and turn the wheels of fate around."

The words in themselves sounded ridiculous, but nobody in the room even twitched. Seriousness and a firm belief in what had been spoken practically radiated from everyone around Odin. He shivered. At this point he probably should have walked out and slammed the door shut, but he couldn't. All he had ever tried before had gone wrong or just wasn't effective in any way at all. He didn't know what to do anymore, there was just emptiness, so much emptiness. It was spreading through his body and soul, getting ready to swallow him whole. Odin would have done anything to make it stop. A part of him felt pathetic for how desperate he was, but the only thing he could actually do was nod slowly. "How? How do I become a wheeler then?"

"Follow us, please." Lucy had silently gone to open the door again and motioned for Odin to step out. "Everything will be much clearer in a moment."

"Hey, can we come, too? I want to see his face when he gets there!" Jake was practically bouncing with excitement, but that seemed to be his usual state anyway. The blonde boy, who's name was apparently Matthew, turned around to face him and shook his head. "Weren't you doing homework, Jake?" A guilty look travelled over to the chemistry book that was buried under magazines and candy wrapping paper. Jake shrugged. "Oh well, next time, next time. Tell me how you liked it, Odin!"

They didn't go back into more livelier parts of the academy and instead headed straight for the stairway to the basement. Nobody spoke, Matthew and Lucy walked in professional seriousness, while Ryan seemed to truly be enjoying himself. Odin had a hard time figuring out what any of them might be thinking. Surprisingly the stairs didn't end in some dusty cellar rooms, but in front of a very modern looking elevator door. Ryan stepped forward, holding a small hexagon-shaped object against a scanning mechanism at the door. Odin couldn't see it clearly, but he thought he saw some picture of a dog on its flat side before the scan ray hit it and the elevator door opened. Seeing they already were pretty deep under the building, one would have guessed the elevator was serving to go back up again, but that was wrong. They were at the highest station, the only other way was down.  
The elevator ride felt longer than it was to Odin as anticipation of what would possibly expect him at the end of the way build up. When the door finally slid open again, Ryan stepped forward and spread his arms in a spectacular gesture. Odin noticed for the first time, that he only wore a glove on one hand.

"Welcome to the most holy and important part of this school. Only the chosen ones can enter here. Odin. This is your time to decide. Do you wish to participate in the Judgement Project and become a Wheeler for the new world?"

Odin wanted to step forward and see where they had brought him, but the moment he threatened to move, Lucy and Matthew held him back with an iron grip. "Only chosen ones may enter here, it is time for your decision."

Odin could have easily knocked them both out, but he knew that it would completely disqualify him from changing his fate, if such a thing was actually possible. For a moment he just stared at the gloved hand Ryan had offered to him. He had a sense that this was going to be the decision of a lifetime and once he made it, there would be no going back on it anymore.

As he took Ryan's hand to shake it, a strange warm feeling pulsed through his hand and a bit up his arm. It tingled and lingered for a bit. It was in no way pleasant, but it didn't hurt either. More than anything it felt like an invasion of mind and private space. Ryan grinned and his red eye seemed to glow more than ever. Odin wasn't a person who was easily afraid, but for a split second he wanted to turn around and run. As they separated their hands, Ryan was inexplicably holding another of the hexagon things. He looked down on it and smiled.  
"Destroyer. This is going to be good."

Odin had a feeling he'd have to get used to this person speaking in riddles. Matthew and Lucy left the elevator and motioned for him to step after them. Finally he could see where he was clearly. It looked like the inside of a spaceship or at least like he would imagine one to look like. Everything was chromatic, clean, simplistic and functional. It appeared to be an observation hall-way build around a simplistic round room, which's purpose Odin could not figure out. At the end of it there was a giant security door, which Ryan was heading for. As they stopped in front of it, he handed Odin the symbol-printed object which's motive he had called 'Destroyer' earlier. As Ryan showed no intention to explain anything, Lucy stepped in for him.  
"This is your mark, your key to everything at this place. You can open the elevator door with it, as well as this door. It identifies you as a Wheeler at any time and should from now on become your most precious possession. So now use it, open this door."  
The mark was red, with a simplistic golden picture of a helmet on it. Hesitantly Odin raised it to the scanner. There were no weird feelings this time, just slight buzzing as the door slid open. What was revealed to his eyes was breathtaking.

It looked like robots in a way, but the glass fronts in the heads were clear, revealing a cockpit. There were lots of them, possibly a dozen even. They were giant, about six time as tall as an ordinary human. The shapes in themselves were humanoid, but each was very individually personalized. Someone had to have put a lot of thought and effort into creating all the details on them. Odin stared up in awe. "What are those?"

"Mecha suits. You will pilot one of them. In order to turn the wheels of fate, you will have to find the power to open the gate to the new world through battles with them. Everything will be explained to you in due time." The reflection of light on Matthew's glasses hid his eyes as he pushed them up.

Meanwhile Ryan had stopped in front of one of the mechas. It was blue, but it's armor glittered golden. The thick glass protecting the pilot's seat, however, was red.  
"This is Destroyer", Ryan's fingers stroked the metal of the leg in an almost affectionate manner, "You'll have to learn to use him properly, because he is your ticket to a better future."

Odin stared up at the mechanic head and for the first time in a while he felt something like excitement rise within his body.

This day, Odin didn't get to see his newly found mecha partner from the inside. His 'pilot suit' wasn't ready they said, so they brought him back to the first floor and into the club room. As far as homework progress went, Jake seemed to be at the exact level of 'not started' as at which he had been earlier, but the mountain of candy wrapping papers had increased height quite a bit.

"So, you're in then?", he grinned up on Odin, "A newbie, how sweet. Oh and by the way, the grumpy guy over there is David and the tall one's his bro Gigante. You should probably know if you're a Dominator now, eh?"

"Dominator?" Odin tilted his head.

"Now what's that, they didn't even tell you? That's our team name, silly. I mean, 'Judgement Club members' is more than a little lame, isn't it?"

With a sigh Odin took the uniform off the chair in the corner, threw it over to the couch and sat down. He didn't feel the slightest need to be on a 'team' with anybody, least of all if fighting was involved, but it seemed that at this moment he had no choice. If they were a team though, then who were their enemies? And how did one battle with impractical big mecha suits as the ones he'd seen? Who was Ryan really and where did he get all this equipment? Was it really possible to influence something as fate and did alternate world truly exist?  
There were too many open questions by the end of this day, but Odin couldn't bring himself to ask any. With what he had found out, he had enough on his mind already. 'Everything will be explained to you in due time' was what that Matthew had said and Odin had no better plan than trusting in it.


	3. Tactic For Corruption

**A/N: ….this took me way too long and does not include as many scenes as I wanted it to. Originally this should have included the first battle, but that'll now into chapter 03. Slightly shorter chapters also mean shorter waiting times though, so I hope this is beneficial for everyone. Jake is really fun to write, by the way.**

**And I swear, this fic will start making sense sometime soon, the questions will be answered! There's just so many aspects to introduce before the plot moves for real...**

A week later, Odin still had not gotten close to figuring out what they actually needed the club room for. They did not hold any special meetings in there nor did any planning take place. But even so, there seemed to be no way around spending the afternoon there. Odin switched the hand he rested his head on and idly watched Jake restyle his hair. The awful smell of hairspray filled the room, but thanks to the lack of windows they'd have to wait until the ventilation automatically fulfilled its purpose. Telling Jake to do these things somewhere else was a waste anyway. He'd never listen to anybody, except for Ryan, who could not be bothered to interfere with their personal business. At the very least, Odin had been able to limit the mess to one half of the room, building a fort of tidiness and boredom in the other. He'd tried escaping the other Dominators best as he could, but after four days he finally accepted that there was no use. Whenever he tried not to go there, Jake would catch up to him or he'd search from and escape from Sho's friendliness that wasn't his own room or -once he actually was in his room- he'd feel so bored that he'd head for the club room anyway. If it wasn't for Jake it would have all been rather peaceful. Gigante spent most of his time reading or doing homework. Sometimes he talked to David, but for the most part his brother seemed occupied with thoughts of which nobody could truly guess the content. His face revealed nothing at least, so he might as well be sleeping with his eyes open. Odin glanced at his maths book. Equalizations of all kinds were waiting for him, but he didn't feel like taking out a pen and doing them. Tomorrow his teacher would have another reason to be angry at him. 'If you don't start working soon, you'LL have an unpleasant surprise by the end of this term' he commonly said, but Odin never listened. The end of the term... It was a long time until then and he wasn't even sure he'd stay on the Academy this long.

"Ta-daaaaah, I'm done!" Jake knew very well that nobody cared about his perfect styling skills, but it sure as hell wouldn't keep him from practically glowing with self-satisfaction. As nobody reacted, he just yawned, stretched himself and sighed. "You're awfully boring, you know that? Why do I even spend my time with you grumps?"

David raised his head a bit. "Because you want to get out of this world and change fate as much as we all do. So quit the club or quit complaining, it's getting old."

Once again, Odin was reminded that he still knew nothing about the club at all. Since Ryan took him down to the secret basement there had been hardly any mention of the mechas and fights. As he asked Matthew about it, he'd only been advised to be patient. Odin wasn't very patient. This state of uncertainty was getting on his nerves.

The only thing he'd been able to notice was the bad reputation his fellow Dominators had at the school. People generally seemed to avoid them and the crowd parted as soon as one of them came along. What they had done to earn this treatment Odin did not know, but he did not mind it either. The bad guys were the kind of people he knew. It felt more natural to him than Sho's shiny, sparkly kindness. Sho had attempted talking to him quite a few more times. His friends didn't seem to happy about it, but they went along with it for Sho's sake. Doubtlessly he was the leader, Odin mused. He could not figure out for the life of him whgy such a person got to be that though. Every time Sho reached out to him, Odin took a big step back. The redhead never got the hint. Only as he started seeing Odin with Jake and the brothers his befriending attempts began to cease. There seemed to be something like worry and disappointment in his eyes. Jin's and Leon's eyes more likely said something along the lines of 'I knew it'.

Sometimes Odin sneaked down to the basement on his own. The mark opened all doors to him effortlessly. But there was still nothing he could do. Without instructions it turned out to be impossible to figure out how to make the giant robot-esque thing move. Odin sat down by its foot and sighed. The cool metal against his back at least had a calm and comforting feeling to it. For taking a break, this place was better than the club room or his assigned dorm, but he knew he couldn't spend too much time down here before people would start asking questions. Just as he started to fully relax, Odin heard the door slide open. Immediately he was on his feet, watching the entrance warily. "Oh hey, it's you. And I already wondered where you'd been hiding." Jake grinned at him. Odin relaxed a bit again, despite his annoyance about the unwanted interruption. "So what? I'm a Wheeler. As far as I understood, I can be down here as much as I want."

Jake waved his hand dismissively. "Of course you can. I wasn't really searching for you anyway. Not everything is about you." Odin huffed. "So what do you want down here then?" "Same as you, probably."

For a moment there was silent as Odin let his eyes wander over the other mechas in the room. He'd examined them all before, surprised by how many of them there were but none of them looked as appealing to him as Destroyer. "Which one if yours?"

Jake had moved over to a green mecha that had an armor vaguely resembling reptile scales. "This one. My pretty, pretty Serpent!"He licked his lips and smirked. "The strongest and best one there is for sure, so be glad we're on the same team. " Nothing but hot air, probably. Odin had to grin a bit. "A snake. I should have guessed."

Jake, at the very least, was as annoying, hissy and flexible as one.

Before Jake could go on and on talking about his own supposed awesomeness, Odin cut him off with another question. "And which ones of those belong to the brothers?" Actually he was less interested in which mechas were already taken than the free ones. if he could enter the club and take a free spot, then so could others. Jake was visibly annoyed at the lack of interest in his person, but he gave out the information anyway. With a lazy movement of his arm he vaguely pointed towards the mechas in the left corner of the room. "Gigante uses Gil over there and David... you see that dull-colored one? That's Herculeo. Suits him so well." He laughed. "Though actually... Destroyer's colors are almost too bright for you, too, aren't they?"

Before Odin had a chance to go and attempt to strangle Jake for being such a nuisance, there heard yet another noise coming from the elevator.

"Hello? Is anybody here? Whoa, what is this place?"

The voice that reached them through the hallway was none they were familiar with. Leaving Odin no time to react, Jake dragged him into a corner of the room that was out of sight from the door. Amazingly enough he didn't make any comment, so they both waited in silence for the stranger to appear. It took a bit before anything happened, other than the meaningless exclamations of amazement and confusion continuing. Odin could almost feel Jake's extremely small span of patience running out as the unknown person finally entered. Curiously, both leaned forward at the same time with little skill to coordinate their movements, which almost caused them to stumble out of their hiding place. The intruder was a boy about their age, heavily build, with curly hair and a button nose. Odin tried to recall if he had seen him around the campus sometime before, but he couldn't remember. They boy stopped walking and stared at the mechas with wide eyes. His mouth dropped open.

"Wooooooooooooooooooooooooooo ow!"

Loud. Way too late for Odin's tastes. Had he been neutral about this person before, now he definitely disliked him.

"B-but who would build such a place?! For what purpose?" The boy looked from one side of the room to the other with increasing speed, becoming more and more starry eyed in the process. "It's like it's straight out of a sci-fi movie!"

It couldn't be more obvious that this kid hadn't been invited down here. Odin was already wondering how in the world he'd opened the elevator door to get here, when his gaze travelled down to the other's hands. He couldn't make it out clearly, but the boy seemed to be holding something hexagon-shaped. Things appeared to make less and less sense, which apparently triggered Jake to finally give up on hiding. In a dramatic and almost acrobatic movement he jumped right in front of the stranger, pointing his index finger at him.

"You! What do you think you're doing down here?"

The other boy stumbled back a few steps and Odin couldn't blame him, because Jake was a truly startling person. Now that Jake had already revealed his existence, Odin didn't feel any need to keep hiding any longer either. Without saying anything he stepped forward and gave the stranger a testing look.

"That elevator just opened for me, so I- Wait, who are you guys anyway?"

"I could ask you the same! After all, we're not the ones who butted into a private room without any invitation, hmmh?" Jake stepped forward, pointing his long-nailed index finger at the boy's chest. There was something dangerous in his eye and Odin couldn't place a finger on what it was.

"My name is Covey Horn and I didn't just butt in like that!" Amazingly, Covey didn't move back an inch and just stared right back at Jake. "This tiny thing here just appeared and it was like something was calling me, so I..." Suddenly he paused and when he spoke up again his voice was considerably more quiet. "I'm actually not sure what any of it means, uhm."

All this time Odin had kept his eyes fixated on Covey's hand. "That 'thing' you speak of... It just appeared?"

Covey nodded hesitantly. "Uh-hum. Kinda. Yeah."

That sounded awfully like the key marks. "Let me see that!" Odin had just opened his mouth to ask further, as Jake already snatched the object from Covey's hands. Odin had no choice but to look over his shoulder to catch a glance at it, while Covey was protesting.

It was definitely a Wheeler mark and Odin wasn't sure what to make out of that. To his confusion, Jake seemed considerably less surprised. "Bull, huh? I should really have guessed." He looked up and across the room to a strongly armoured black-red-mecha mecha. It appeared heavier than the others and therefore also stronger. Odin frowned. "That's Bull, then?"

Jake nodded and laughed, throwing the mark back to Covey. "Well then, whatever-your-name-was-again! I, the great Jake, challenge you to a Judgment Battle!"

There was dead silence in the room. Jake looked confident of himself, grinning in anticipation even, but Covey seemed too taken aback to even come up with stuttering for a reply. Meanwhile, thousands of new questions lined up in Odin's head to a level at which they almost made him dizzy.

Then there was laughter. As he turned around, he saw Ryan standing in the doorway, smiling at them.


	4. Speak of the Sinner

**A/N: Remember when I said I would update faster? Yeah, neither do I... orz. Well, at least the new chapter is here now and I really have no intention on giving this fic up, so please be patient. **

**The plot finally progresses, woohoooo and within the next two chapters a new character arc will begin. We stop focusing only on Odin's confusion and introduce new people, please look forward to it!**

As soon as he noticed Ryan entering, Jake froze in his movements completely. Odin still didn't understand the almost unhealthy amount of respect that the usually so obnoxious Jake held for the student council president, but it was rather nice knowing at least _someone _could keep this nuisance in check.

Ryan was still smiling and waved his gloved hand dismissively. "It's not your place to decide when a duel will take place, but this time it's fine. This evening, you will get your battle."

Immediately Jake brightened up again, jumping up and down in excitement. "Yaaay, oh, it'll be fun, it'll be fun! Watch out, Bull-boy, this will be your doooom!", he sing-songed delightedly.

'Bull-boy' Covey meanwhile had as little of a clue what was going on as Odin had, if not even less.

"Wait, what battle, what are you guys talking about?"

It came as no surprise to Odin that Matthew and Lucy appeared behind Ryan and began explaining. Apparently they always did the reasonable but boring talking for him.

"It's simple", Lucy said, "This evening, at sunset, you will return to this basement and pilot one of these mecha suits against Jake." Matthew nodded. "As you've apparently been chosen there is no way around it now."

"So..." Covey drew out the sound, buying time to organize his thoughts. "It's like a game, a sports competition? Just with these big things?"

Four people nodded at him and Odin listened in silence. Covey thought for a bit longer. "Sounds pretty awesome. Count me in!" He grinned. Apparently the prospect of participating in a secret but super-special sports event had silenced down all the other questions in his head. As he had left, Odin turned to Ryan.

"What is the meaning of this? I thought _you_ chose the participants of the Judgement Club, so why did this boy just randomly come down here? Why is he allowed to battle, while I am not? I'm sick of being ignored whenever I question these things."

"Ignored? There is a right time for everything, Odin." Ryan smiled. There was nothing bad in his expression. His wide eyes spoke of friendliness beyond compare, which could not possibly be as true as it appeared to be.

Lucy adjusted her glasses and stepped forward. "By joining the Judgement Club you agreed to play by our rules. Patience is a virtue you should consider learning."

"The fight tonight," Matthew added, "is going to be example and explanation for you. Your uniform is almost ready. In due time you will pick up your training."

Sceptically Odin tilted his head. Training would start soon for him. Destroyer would move for him, at his whim. It was an exciting thought. But even so, he still couldn't just trust Ryan, not unless he finally knew what the fights were actually like.

He gestured toward the door. "And that guy? Where does he fit into all of this?"

"He's a natural," Jake remarked casually and yawned. "They don't have a uniform and are pretty boring anyway. But nice prey, so to say."

Odin rolled his eyes. "If you're already going to explain, then at least make sense."

"Come on, Odin, you can't be that dumb. They're our opponents."

When Odin walked back up the stairs to the club room, he thought about the definition of 'naturals' that he had finally been able to get from Ryan.

_'The fight to turn the wheels of fate around is a competition. You and the other Dominators are the ones I've chosen as being most likely to come out as winners. You will be trained and supported. But you are not the only participants. In the end the mechanism itself has the ultimate power of decision. So sometimes naturals are drawn down to the basement. They are wild, inexperienced and likely inferior wheelers. It is your duty to defeat them.'_

Opponents... Odin liked the thought of a definite enemy. Nevertheless an uneasiness remained in his chest, right next to the ever-present all-consuming emptiness.

"I've got a fiiight~! I've got a fiiight~!" The annoyingness Jake was capable of turned out to be much more annoying than it was ever thought to be. The entire afternoon was pure torture for the eardrums of everyone present. When he left to change into his uniform - which he had to be forced to do as he was fully intending on doing it right inside the club room - everyone let out a sigh of relief.

Now there was silence. Odin felt tension drop from his body and the risk of an aneurism decreasing. "By the way, how many natural wheelers are there so far?"

Gigante looked up from his book. "Three. They were there before us, even. We haven't battled all of them yet either - but we've seen them train."

"Training battles count for nothing. The outcome doesn't matter. It's only battles between the teams that affect the wheels of fate one way or another. Ryan alone knows when one of those actual Judgement Battles will take place." It was rare for David to just speak up and explain like that. Gigante looked over at his brother with an unreadable emotion in his eyes.

"Jake may make it seem like fun, but it's not. Losing is not tolerated. Not ever."

Something unspoken hung in the air, something heavy and thick. It filled every corner of the room with a scent of past events.

Then the door flung open and Jake cried out: "It's tiiiiiime, come watch me, see how it's done!"

The uniform was the one Odin had seen lying around on his first day, but now that it was worn by Jake it had a different feeling to it. Skin-tight, shiny and chromatic white and gray, it seemed to transform Jake into a flexible fighter. Had he seemed unprofessional and ridiculous in his modified school uniform, Jake now finally didn't appear all that misplaced anymore. It was a confusing transformation. At least pink, yellow and blue ornaments as well as a blue cap over his right eye served as reminders of his awfully obnoxious nature.

"You two as well!" Jake added to his previous command as only Odin had made a move to follow him down into the basement.

Covey wasn't there yet when they arrived at the mecha storing room, which gave Jake another opportunity to boast about his self-proclaimed fighting skills. He stood next to Serpent and kept going on and on about exactly how awesome he was in mecha combat. Odin first tried to find out something about the nature of the battles, but soon enough gave up on making sense of the cascade-esque babbling.

Finally at least Ryan and his two add-ons Matthew and Lucy appeared at the scene. Immediately Jake shut his mouth. Suddenly he was all eager, obedient anticipation.

"It appears your challenger is late," Lucy said with a short look to Jake as she stepped towards a bare wall.

"Maybe he's afraid. Maybe he ran away," Jake laughed coldly and loudly, "I sure hope he shows up though."

"He will. I'm sure." Ryan smiled a little. He and Matthew joined Lucy in staring at the wall. Upon further inspection it wasn't as plain of a wall as it seemed at first glance. There was another of those hexagon-shaped holes in it. Nothing in the basement was what it first appeared to be. A siring sound re-vibrated around them as Ryan held his mark out to the hole. The sound continued and slowly build up to deeper but much louder notes. It felt less like noise and more like a vibration of the soul.

As the wall slowly slid to the sides a strange glowing filled the room. Bit by bit by bit a new room was revealed where it had seemed like solid stone before. It was like a giant and bright test room, resembling a laboratory.

"The stadium", Gigante explained shortly. It didn't seem like an appropriate spot for these huge robots to unleash their full potential, but who knew with this place?

Finally there was a voice from the elevator. "Anybody here already?"

Jake rolled his eyes. "Who does this dimwit think we're waiting for, except for his stupid butt? The pizza service?"

It didn't take long for Covey to appear in the hallway, but considerable longer to explain the fighting system to him. Odin as well listened carefully, but all of Covey's silly questions and Jake's awful side-comments made him feel an approaching headache.

He was honestly relieved when both contestants finally stepped up to their mechas. Upon a command with the marks the giant fighting suits went down to their knees, revealing the entrances to the cockpits at the backs of their heads. Jake climbed up with absolute ease. He had executed these movements countless times before. Surprisingly, Covey didn't take much longer to get seated.

With slow, almost clumsy movements they both walked into the stadium. The gate closed behind them and at the same time yet another room opened.

"The observation room. Please come inside," Matthew said.

Unlike the hall, this room was not separated from the fighting place by a wall but by a window made of thick glass. Just as the audience had gathered and turned to face the fighters again, space inside the stadium distorted. There just wasn't any better word for it. Laboratory turned to a universe and the heavy mechas lifted off the ground into seeming weightlessness.

"It is bigger inside than outside. Only that way the perfect fighting conditions can be granted. One of the many small powers the wheels give this place."

Observation screens flickered and then came to show the contestants' faces. Ryan smiled at them. "Ready?"

A nod from both sides and an annoying remark from Jake confirmed the beginning of the countdown, as spoken by a synthetic computer voice.

The fighting mechas were nothing like the way they appeared outside of the stadium. It only took a split second for Serpent to send a strong metal punch toward bull's chest. Odin immediately noticed that Bull was the considerably slower one of the two. Even so, he managed to block the assault effectively. While he observed the fight, Odin repeated the rules in his head.

_-A mecha has three vital points, that are positioned individually for each. These are called beys. Each bey represents one attribute of the mecha's abilities.-_

There was laughter from the speakers, lots of eerie, cackling laughter. Serpent was all around Bull like a wild, egocentric dancer. Jake was glowing with a horrible feeling of sadism that Odin would not have thought him capable of. He'd been inclined to not take the other seriously, but that could have ended up a fatal mistake. Even in the messy quality of the shaking recordings, it was impossible to ignore the way the corners of his mouth twisted, the way he licked his lips and went forward and forward without any hint of mercy. It had been only lingering around him before but now it was in his every movement; Jake wasn't even a warrior he was a torturer. There had been little exaggeration in his bragging. His fighting style seemed trained and fluent, as if he had studied the exact way he needed to move to make his opponent feel maximal despair.


	5. Zero Count Down

**A/N: So it's been over 3 months since I last updated, I'm afraid, but I certainly haven't forgotten this fic and I will finish it even if it takes me years. Here finally is the end of the battle as well as the intro of a new character. I guess it's pretty easy to figure out who it is and I'm excited to start his bit of Arc. **

The maximal despair, the most terrifying of feelings to end it all. Three beys to be hit for each. Six vital points in the game. There were countless opportunities to turn tables and yet the outcome of the battle seemed set from the start. It had never been a balanced fight to begin with. Covey Horn was a newbie natural who had never piloted anything before, while Jake was something else entirely. Odin didn't want to believe that he was actually an expert, the best of the best, but without having seen any comparison fights, he had to say he was honestly impressed.

Laughter continued to ring through the room, which was otherwise left in unsettling silence. Nobody appeared to be at all impressed with what was happening in front of them, except maybe for Ryan who was smiling fondly as the fight continued.

It came as no surprise when the first bey was finally hit.

_-Balance. The basis bey. Controlling no special power in particular, this bey is responsible for coordinating the strengths during movement.-_

Serpent's metal arm had pierced straight through the armour on Bull's leg. There was a moment of dead silence as the two mechas were connected like that. Jake let out a whistle. Smiling self-righteously he tried to push the arm in deeper, aiming to break off the other's armour from the inside. It was a fatal mistake. Serpent's strongest point was its mobility but exactly that was strongly limited while he was attached to his opponent. What came for him wasn't a coordinated attack, likely enough Covey didn't even know exactly what he was doing, but yet it was more than a little effective.

"_TAKE THAAAAT!_"

_-Power. The attack bey. Often crucial to deciding a battle as it increases a wheeler's own power by a tenfold.-_

Odin shivered at the loud cracking sound that was transmitted into the observation room. With full force Bull's knees had smashed into Serpent's chest. Pieces of paint were flying through the vacuum-like space inside. A visible gouge was now obvious on Serpent.

"One more bey down", Lucy commented dryly. For people who were supposed to be cheering for Jake, nobody in the room looked very shocked. "It's his own fault for getting reckless." David shrugged.

Jake moved away from Covey's mecha at the speed of light. His heavy breathing had nothing to do with exhaustion, each hiss was made of pure anger. His lips, however, were smiling. "Damaging my pretty Therpent like that... You mussst have a death wish, cow boy**_. I sure could help you out with that!_**"

His scream was loud and uncontrolled. A little lisp made it's way into his speech. But all his following attacks appeared futile. Even though Bull couldn't dodge him effectively with its balance reduced, Serpent was a mecha relying on speed and agility not power. Having its power bey destroyed, it could only attempt to scratch the other mecha, not much more. The battle which's outcome had seemed so clear just before was turning to a dance of the damaged. The outcome was out in the open again. Tables hadn't turned but been flipped over and were now floating around aimlessly, it seemed.

"This will take forever now..." Odin sighed under his breath in the exact same moment the lighting inside the observation room turned red. Ryan shook his head and chuckled. "Oh, it seems Covey's about to be down for the count."

Gigante turned to Odin. "Damaging Jake's ego is probably the worst mistake you can make in a battle against him. Or in general, actually."

Odin hadn't even noticed, but while Serpent had appeared to only be tearing off paint, Jake had actually followed a different scheme. Seemingly random assault had been the strategy in itself. Finally now the armour of Bull had caved in, deactivating its power bey. It rendered the mecha almost completely useless. Its special powers were all toned down to a minimum while Jake still had access to speed, his biggest strength.

It was obvious that now Serpent was toying with his opponent again, drawing out the inevitable victory as long as possible. It was punishment torture and Jake enjoyed every bit of it. Covey seemed to have understood that as well, judging by his wide eyes and shaky hands. There wasn't really any way he could save himself anymore, but he didn't want to give up either.

It was useless though. Before long Jake had carved a little web of lines into Bull's metal. It only took a little while for him to finally detect the last bey and destroy it as thoroughly as he fought cruelly.

_-Speed. The speed type bey's ability can be used both defensively and aggressively, making it a valuable one if handled correctly.-_

The lights went out and for a second everyone was encompassed by complete darkness. In that moment where the only interaction was hearing one another breathe, Odin finally could make up his mind on these fights. He didn't regret coming to DREAMAcademy. Emptiness was always all around him, wherever he went in a dull world and even now he could feel it calmly nag at him to give up whatever little self he had left. These battles were the most special thing he had ever seen. They were awful and possibly useless, but Odin had seen the looks on the Wheeler's faces as adrenaline rushed all through them. Maybe what he felt was jealousy. He was envious of this sense of being so completely fulfilled with the desire to win. This was what he wanted and if someone as shady as Ryan with a group as shady as this could give it to him, he would throw caution in the wind and go for it.

The lights went back on and gravity returned to the stadium. Jake had already climbed out of his cockpit and now was jumping around happily on the head of Serpent. Had anyone actually nice enough been present they might have been worried he'd fall down.

Covey took his time with coming out. He was thoroughly confused. While the last moments of the battle had been filled with nothing but raw, instinctive fear he'd had fun before. It brought him into an awkward situation; he wanted to battle, but he did not want to battle with these particular people. Now he finally understood why even on his first day he'd been warned about them on the campus.

Usually he was a loud and expressive character, but as he left the basement he was extraordinarily silent. His steps echoed from the walls. Nobody hindered him in walking out, although the faces of some displayed curiosity. Covey's own expression however was unreadable, mainly because he himself was unable to make up his mind on how he felt. He was so lost in thought, that he ran into a smaller person immediately after leaving the elevator.

"Hey, watch where you're goi- Wait, what were you doing down there?!" In a matter of moments the other person's fury turned to wary curiosity. "My name's Leon. I think we should have a talk."

After dark, the students were in their dorms. Small little lights flickering in small far-away windows. From the rooftop of the school building they were more entertainment than illumination. It was dark. A noise made here would not be heard anywhere around this hour. He was thankful, but ultimately not relieved. There was nowhere to turn now and the metallic smell around him made thinking harder. In a haze, he looked down at his hands. There were scissors in them and for a moment he was confused about how they got there. Only the second they were threatening to slide out of his grasp and onto the floor, he managed to close his fist again, clenching the metal tightly. It was cool and moist.

He felt dizzy, but freed. His actions had been a relief. Even the cold night wind couldn't reach through the warm satisfaction.

He might as well have spent all the next hours here, just in this position, but a harsh sound made him turn. There was slow clapping. In the shady environment it was hard to make out the source at first, but the shape of a boy was visible, leaning against the stairway door. "Well done, you", said the boy and licked his lips, "You don't seem like the type to leave things unfinished, huh? I'm impressed."

"If you're going to do something, do it thoroughly", said the other and shrugged with a smirk, but his eyes were narrowed. "What do you want?"

There was a chuckle and the newcomer scooted closer. "I'm Jake and I really think we should be friends."

Past midnight everyone in the student dorms was in sheer panic. Some had taken the time to get dressed before flooding out to the halls, others were still in pyjamas. Nobody appeared to have any idea where to go and what to do, a state of confusion was spread widely. Odin would have liked to get back to bed, but a particularly loud group of wannabe monster hunters had positioned themselves right in front of his door. Groggily he went out to investigate the happenings himself. There was nothing he could get out of anybody. Sho and his friends were doing headcounts, but nobody seemed willing to cooperate.

Before Lucy and Matthew appeared to break the crowd apart with the irresistible force of the tides, there were just a few words Odin could quite catch.

_'I heard there's been something like a massacre.'_


	6. Depths You Cling Onto

**A/N: Aaaand finally an update. I really liked writing this chapter, because the story stops being purely technical and begins to focus on the individual personalities of the cast as well. Also Jake continues being a little shit, but don't we love him for that?**

As it turned out 'massacre' was the kind of overstatement that was an expected result of teenagers getting together to discuss something vague but definitely somehow gruesome. But even if nothing was as bad as expected in midnight panic state, it didn't change the fact that six boys were hurt severely under unknown circumstances. Knocked out and unstrategically scratched and cut they were found on the rooftop by the superintended who thought he'd seen students out past curfew.

Odin chewed on his breakfast, while around him the entire room was filled with excited chatter. Comfortingly enough, next to him David at least wore the same disinterested expression. It was a silent meal at this table, the most silent one they'd had in forever. Only Gigante seemed mildly alarmed about it. After another look around he finally gestured towards the empty seat next to him. "Where's Jake anyway, you'd think he'd be all over_ this _kind of gossip, right?"

Odin could have done without bringing this endless nuisance up. He was glad the other was finally gone for a bit, the occasion was rare enough. David put aside his knife. "I haven't seen him since early last night. Who knows what that guy is thinking. I can do without someone else picking meaningless events apart more than necessary." He glanced across the room with visible annoyance. The chatter had reached a decibel number far higher than ordinary and the ordinary was already an enormous source of irritation to David each and every time.

Admittedly, it was strange. Jake was the kind of person you could never ever get rid of, no matter how hard you tried. For him to remove himself from the group on his own was startling to say the least. Even more shocking was the realization just how much they had gotten used to his constant blabbering being heard. Without any spoken agreement, they decided to let the topic go and disappear from the room as soon as they had taken the last bite. Neither of the Dominators were particularly excited about the so-called 'massacre'. Cruelty was their daily life and as long as it didn't concern them, it was neither entertaining nor bothersome.

Jake remained absent for the entire day, which thankfully reduced the risk of explosions or acid burns in Chemistry class. The teachers scoffed, the students talked even more. It was the school rumour system at its finest. By fourth period it was already generally agreed by one quarter of students that Jake was the culprit. A more informed quarter knew that the suspect was another and still on the loose, another just hid in their dorms and didn't want to hear about it and the most questionable and last opinion was that building three was haunted.

Odin noticed that Covey had apparently taken a liking to Team Estrella's Leon. He followed him around and whenever Sho and his friends discussed something seemingly serious, his outraged voice was the only one that could be heard over the campus. Enemies to enemies. It was only logical, Odin thought before he turned his back to them and went away. Afternoon homeroom class was cancelled due to the recent happenings - likely enough that did the contrary of calming the student body but the teachers apparently had their hands full with the investigation.

It was an odd balance of places being crowded and deserted. Nobody seemed willing to move around alone, which resulted in some hallways being overrun by people while others were dead silent. The way to the clubroom was a silent one and Odin, David and Gigante did nothing to fill it with any more sound than their footsteps. However, all hopes of an equally quiet afternoon were shattered as the door was opened and hit against something solid and organic, which commented it with a loud 'OOOWWW'.

"Jake. Why on earth are you on the floor." The more relevant question likely was why he had skipped all his classes, but David operated on a strict basis of 'first things first' and also he honestly thought it was none of his business.

A sheepish smile was sent up in his direction, along with an awkward shrug. "I was doing sit-ups." Odin was about to comment that there were better spots for that than directly in front of the door, but as he glanced at the chaos that had taken over the room again since his last visit he had to admit that there weren't. More striking than the messed up state of order, however, was the stranger he only now noticed sitting on the couch.

The boy wore the uniform of their school, but for some reason the shirt seemed to be a few sizes too large for him so that his thin frame got almost completely lost in wrinkly fabric. His hair was silver and neatly fell over his shoulders. The most prominent features of his face were his curved nose and bushy eyebrows over brown-ish red eyes. There was something oddly distant and unsettling in his gaze. His expression was neither smirk nor frown and Odin couldn't quite tell whether he was watching them with attention or looking straight through them. Despite how lost he looked, his position on the couch was worthy of a modelling magazine. Only as the last thing, Odin noticed the few drops of blood that were spread over his pants and lower upper body.

David, Odin and Gigante were thinking the exact same in that moment and before he could stop himself Gigante moved back a step, which earned him a disapproving look from his brother.

He had been right, Jake definitely was all over his kind of thing. Enough to be hiding the culprit. That he had been the one to find him before anybody else could spoke for itself.

With a jump, Jake finally got on his feet. "What's the disapproving looks for? Don't tell me you're gonna give me the justice speech now. None of you has anything to do with such sappy bullshit, so stop being huge hypocrites!"

There was a pause, ended by Gigante finally slamming the door shut behind them. "So that really is the one they're looking for?", he asked, his expression speaking both of uneasiness and curiosity.

"Depends. If they're looking for the lunch lady again, then definitely not. This is Sting. Sting, those are the boring spoilsports I told you about, David, his bro Gigante and Odin, who is especially lame." A nod from the boy's part finally signalled that he was aware of what was going on around him.

With his foot David shoved candy papers aside to reach for a damaged book on the floor. His frown had deepened further than usual. "Massacre or not isn't the issue. That you let him in here is." It were his final words before claiming the sole chair and beginning to read. Apparently he was not willing to deal with this issue any longer.

David's retreat was the sign for both Odin and Gigante that the matter was not actually worth the trouble of fighting over it. In the end, potential murderers were less concerning than a friendly kind of person like Sho. As long as Sting didn't interrupt them in anything important, they were willing to wait for Matthew and Lucy to settle things later, however they pleased to do.

Sting watched them silently. Next to him Jake was going on about one thing or another, but he couldn't find it in himself to listen. Jake was a strange person and the place Sting had been dragged to was strange as well.

Back on the roof, Sting had felt like he'd put an end to both his past and his future. He hadn't been able to think of a single way to go on with his life, but there had been something refreshing about the thought. For a few blissful minutes there had been a feeling of falling into nothingness and losing all sense of existing. Then Jake had appeared and before Sting knew it he was seated on this couch, in a room he'd never seen before. The neon lights shining from the ceiling were too bright for his retinas, Sting had noticed. Jake had touched his arm and in that moment he'd snapped. The resulting struggle was cause of Odin's cherished order vanishing. By the end of it, Sting had passed out. Whether it was from shock, hunger or a hit on the head, he couldn't tell anymore. Fact was that Jake had been staring at him the second he lifted his eyelids. It was then that Sting knew resistance against this person's approach was futile and undesirable. It was the other's eye that made Sting feel that there was something familiar about this loud-mouth. It put Sting at ease. They shared a feeling neither of them had a name for.

_'I really think we should be friends'_ was not something that had ever been said to him before. Even now, hours later, he repeated the words and shoved them around in his mind uncertainly. There was no meaning at all, to none of this, but maybe he could adapt. He didn't have another choice, now that everything had turned out this way.

It was a calm afternoon. The wind outside was a bit chilly, but inside the clubroom only the ventilation caused a soft and steady stream of air. Despite all that Jake had said about his teammates the night before, Sting could sense a great familiarity between him and the brothers and even between him and Odin. They were all distanced, minding their own business and occasionally snapping at another, but mixed in was a feeling of acceptance. It was different from _those_ boys. Inside the Judgement Club room, there were no lies. It was exactly because nobody even pretended to like another that Sting felt a bit of peace for the first time in forever. He didn't dare to close his eyes and catch up on any of the sleep he missed, but the inexplicable tension of the prior days was slowly being washed away.

The other Dominators found it surprisingly easy to adapt to Sting's presence. They didn't know what he had done and for what reason, but it was clear that he was the same type of outcast as the rest of them. By five o'clock they sat around the table and discussed homework that nobody was quite willing to do. Sting said nothing, but he watched them with interest.

When the door opened and Matthew came in, they had already momentarily forgotten that there was a matter to be settled. Matthew sighed and cleared his throat to get everyone's attention focused on him. "I'd be lying to say I was surprised this boy" -he nodded in Sting's direction- "was with you."

The tension returned to Sting's body at once. He shot an alarmed and questioning look at Jake, but Jake only shrugged idly. His lack of worry kept Sting from immediately looking for sharp objects to defend himself with.

With a loud snap Jake closed his schoolbook. "For being that unsurprised it took you quite some time to show up here."

"We had other things to do first. Interview the victims, fill out documents, keep away the police... This little incident gave us a lot of extra work." Matthew adjusted his glasses. "I trust that bringing Sting here was your idea?"

Jake nodded and bit his overly long tongue to keep in another snarky remark. He might not respect anyone else, but when it came to the student council members he knew his place fairly well. "He would be a good addition to our team."

Jake himself didn't quite know why he was so focussed on getting Sting to stay with them. Maybe it was boredom, the constant annoyance of being stuck with mopey people. Sting was different in that regard, less like them and more like Jake's true self.

"Any Judgement Club decisions are Ryan's to make and not yours", Matthew reminded firmly. With a stiff hand movement she shoved aside a few stuffed toys and sat down on the couch. All eyes were on him. It was the first time in a while that a council member had displayed interest in an extended stay in the room. "And basically you're saying we should let him go back to school even despite what he's done. To determine something like this, I'd like to hear his side if the story. Let's think of it as pure curiosity, Sting, what happened on that rooftop last night?"

Now all eyes were immediately glued to Sting, who merely shrugged. "The fear in their eyes was just what I wanted to see."

It was an unsettling reply and not all a satisfying one. Jake noticed and despite the fact that nobody had even asked him, he added to the explanation. "Sting was part of this gang, you see? Those guys who pathetically go around beating up people, we made fun of them sometimes, remember? They underappreciated him like whoa and got what was coming to them for it."

Sting confirmed with a nod. Those guys had given him a place to be after he hadn't known where to go, he got a name with them and something to do - but in the end they'd used him, abused him, and he couldn't do anything but grow to hate these people who acted so strong and yet were so weak. Somewhere along the road he had understood that he was stronger than them and from then on it took only a few harassing comments for him to snap. It had been so good to see them in their right place. And just when he had thought now everything was finally over, Jake had dragged him here.

"I see..." Matthew heaved an exasperated sigh and leaned back. What was he even going to do with those boys? He couldn't imagine what Ryan was thinking, choosing this collection of children gone completely nuts for of reaching a new world. But it wasn't up to him to question that. He was here because Ryan ordered so and all there was for him to do was ensure that whatever messy thing Ryan planned went cleanly either way. Right now, the council essentially had to decide which band of bullies had more rights. Naturally, that would be the council-controlled band of bullies. Finally, he stood up and pushed up his glasses once again. "Stay inside here. If I catch any of you outside before we explicitly allow you to, you won't like the consequences."

"Why are _we_ being locked in, too?", Gigante growled as the door fell shut. Collective shrugging was the answer. Odin sighed and rolled his eyes.. "Just accept it."

Their sudden confinement lasted until nearly midnight. When Ryan entered the room along with both of his companions, he found the Dominators asleep in whatever position they had previously been sitting in. Only Sting's eyes stared at him wide open from across the room. Ryan smiled. "So... Sting. You're lost, aren't you? There's nowhere for you to go, there is no life you could live without that horrible confusion, without that hole in your chest, isn't it so? I'm here to offer you a chance to escape. If you could turn the wheels of fate around and create a new world somewhere else... would you be willing to fight for it?"

There was a nod in the back of the room. Silently and carefully Sting removed Jake's arm from his body and stood up. Without a sound he made his way through the dark window-less room and followed the mysterious trio outside.


End file.
